Med school admission tests change to reflect care realities

Proficiency in organic chemistry may still be a necessary condition for getting into medical school. But starting in 2015, it will no longer be sufficient.

Melissa Healy

Proficiency in organic chemistry may still be a necessary condition for getting into medical school. But starting in 2015, it will no longer be sufficient.

In an effort to create a cadre of future physicians with improved bedside manners, the Association of American Medical Colleges has announced changes to the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) that would plumb applicants' knowledge of psychology, sociology and biology, as well as their ethical and scientific reasoning skills.

"Being a good doctor isn't just about understanding science: it's about understanding people," said Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, president and chief executive of the Association of American Medical Colleges in a news conference Feb. 16. Starting in 2015, aspiring doctors will sit down for a six-and-a-half-hour test (it's now four and a half hours) that will have two new sections — one titled "Psychological, Sociological and Biological Foundations of Behavior," and another, "Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills." Those will require students to have a broad background in the social sciences and an ability to analyze, evaluate and apply information from subjects as diverse as philosophy and ethics, population health and cross-cultural studies.

Kirch said the changes are being announced well ahead of their implementation so that high school and college students considering a medical career can start diversifying their course loads now.

The new MCATs, Kirch said, "will help us move toward greater diversity" in the physician workforce and in the academic backgrounds from which they come.

Those who majored in English literature, economics and history need not rule out the possibility of a career in medicine, he said.

At the same time, the MCATs will continue to test students' grounding in college-level science, as well as their "scientific inquiry and reasoning skills."